With Those Eyes
by TheHeroineIsMe
Summary: Counting how AruAni (Armin x Annie) came to be. Canon-verse. Multi-chaptered. It begins from shortly after the female titan arc, just after Armin looked at her... With /Those/ Eyes. Time skips forward and back in time. Brief MobuHan (Moblit x Hange) appearances. Chapter 3 will be M, the others at most T for language, typically K.
1. Left

_**A/N: **This story goes back and forth in time between chapters. How AruAni came to be._

* * *

"Left."

Cold, damp, dark. He slid along the walls, feeling the ridges of the cool, rough stone blocks scrape the palms of his hands. His breathing was slow, shallow, his steps cautious- silence was a necessity. This method was painfully time consuming, and he felt a knot build in his stomach. However, this was much safer than simply rushing in. He calculated in his mind the directions he took as he made his way through the damp catacombs, where were frustratingly dark; he couldn't even make out his hand on the wall to his side. Coming to a fork in the path, he had to reflect on yesterday evening. When he was brought down here, he had questioned what he had done and consciously committed the turns and straights they had taken to reach their destination to memory. As always, he had felt the need to calculate and consider, fearing he would need to reference this information later. He had been right.

Although it was cool, his bangs clung to his brow from the building humidity like leather to skin, as he descended ever deeper into this dark maze. He would need to reverse his steps to find a way out, and at a quicker pace than the way he came in. He wouldn't have long before someone would come to check on her. She was under near-constant watch, and he had only been able to affirm from Hange's utterances that he could rest assured that he wouldn't be found out at this hour- not that she had told him so that he could do this. She had no idea what he was doing and he couldn't be discovered. What would that bring upon him? Likely charges of treason or something of the sort. He had been the one to turn her in, and it had pained him so much to do so. He thought back to her pained, offended eyes; like those of a wounded animal, almost as though she feared her own lover.

"When did you start looking at me with those eyes?"

The look on her face paired with that utterance ran through his mind again, and he shook it off, clearing his head. He had to be cautious about this; he couldn't allow himself to be blinded by emotions. Even so, had he done the right thing? He scooted further along the damp walls, his hood shielding his eyes, until he reached his destination; a musty, humid room dimly lit by oil-light, which refracted gently off the cool, pale blue stone that lay strung up in the middle. He approached it, picking a lamp from the floor in the corner and carrying it over to her. He held it up to her crystal-like confines, shooting refractions of light over the stone walls as he ran his fingers over the glass entrapping her perfectly smooth surface. His gaze softened as her restful face came in to focus and he felt his face grow hot, his lower, blonde lash lid brimming with a liquid that burned his eyes, and salted his tongue. He stroked over the contours of her porcelain: ethereal- his beauty trapped in glass. It pained him so to consider what he had reduced her to. She had so feared for her life that she'd trapped herself like this, and he knew not if he would ever get the opportunity to hear her voice, so cold- yet overbearing with emotion, again. If he would ever get the chance to apologise for his betrayal, to hold her against him or tell her he love-

"An-nie." A crack to his voice as he heaved.

He leaned against her crystal cage, the glass cold against his sticky brow. Blonde lashes shut tightly over azure eyes, small refracted drops of water breaking through the confines of his lids, hitting the floor below in splattered splashes. He struggled to call _her-_ the real Annie- to his memory.


	2. Reading again?

"Reading again?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her, lightly taken aback by what she'd said to him. He took her in; azure eyes, so strong, yet so meek... the gentle breeze of the warm afternoon that lifted her pale, golden bangs from her face. The low rush of this light breeze whirred about them as it ran through the lush, verdant grass on the hill alongside the grounds of the Training Corps.

"Yes. I want to learn about this world. Some say ignorance is bliss, but nothing is accomplished in ignorance."

She sighed and sat next to him on the dewey, earthen carpet, feeling the coolness on her palms as she lowered herself to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped over them. She was dressed as per always; golden locks flipped up in a twisted-knot ponytail, adorned in her slightly baggy white hoody and pants. She likely knew most of what he wanted to learn, but could never say so. His thirst for knowledge was impressive to her. He was so physically weak in comparison, but so mentally capable. She didn't know why she was so taken with this. Maybe because he had the guts and wits to stand up when necessary and was level-headed enough to do so appropriately. She admired this and then spoke, in a strange sort of cold, monotone in her attempts to deter his interest, though that would never happen.

"Some things are better left unknown."

"Maybe emotionally, but not cognitively. You should know that by now."

He met her gaze, sharing a genuine smile. He was implying getting to know her. Her letting him get to know her. Though, she didn't understand this.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything I can."

"About what?"

She was obviously growing frustrated with him; apparent by the curtness of her words and the ice in her voice.

"You."

Her eyes widened slightly, meeting his of sky before breaking their gaze anew, turning away from him.

"Annie."

His bright eyes softened lightly and he leaned forward towards her to reconnect their gazes, a soft smile spreading his face. He was always so emotionally capable. She envied and yet cherished that.

"Don't do that. You always do that. But... you don't need to hide all the time. It's just me, Annie."

She craned her head away further, denying him the pleasure he so sought in her pale, icy pools... again.

"You're the one I need to hide from the most."

Her words were soft... yet held bitterness, as though her voice were slightly shaky. He leaned closer to her, taking her chin in his hand softly, redirecting her gaze, _pulling_ her eyes to his. She seemingly became angered at this- or frustrated?-, a pale warmth rising in her cheeks. He ignored it, intentionally. The only way to conquer her emotions was to force her to face him. She well might twist his arm and flip him over her; but he would do it anyway. He always saw right through her- saw through the walls she so meticulously constructed to keep others out, as if they were made of pure glass; which made him her emotional enemy, yet her perfect match. Her facade was one of strength, but she was truly so delicate. He pulled her chin further towards his own and gazing down at her, pierced her blue eyes; watery with the refraction of the dew of building tears, before kissing her softly. Her lips, were so warm; despite the chill she so attempted to play into her being.

"Annie-"

"Armin."

He shared a genuine smile -dimples and all- as he released her chin slowly, turning to settle back on the grass, returning azure eyes to the tome of knowledge in his lap. She slid against him, face reddened as she leaned in, inhaling through the tunic at his shoulder, closing her eyes against him as he read.


End file.
